Columbia officer speaks out after lawsuit alleges assault, rights violations (2024)

Published: Aug. 27, 2024 at 1:53 PM CDT

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) — A former Columbia police officer is speaking out after two women filed a lawsuit alleging the officer and her colleagues violated their rights during a routine traffic stop.

Plaintiffs Ginger Upton and Sarah Beach filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday, August 22, at the U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg.

The suit stems from a traffic stop on January 20, 2024, on Lafayette Street in Columbia. In the suit, Upton and Beach claim that officers with the Columbia Police Department (CPD) violated their constitutional rights through the use of excessive force and illegal search and seizure.

Plaintiffs also accuse former CPD Desk Sgt. Delta Ward of conducting an illegal body cavity search. The lawsuit compares the search to “nothing less than a sexual assault on the side of (a) public roadway in the broad daylight.”

Ward, however, is now speaking out against those accusations.

The former officer initially released a statement to the Columbian-Progress on Monday, August 26, denying the claims made in Upton and Beach’s lawsuit. She later released the same statement to Michael Clark at WDAM.

“Some recent social media posts have made false statements and have slandered my name over this matter,” reads Ward’s statement. “Since affording people their right to innocence until proven guilty seems to be a thing of the past, please allow me to interject some FACTS about this incident.”

• WHERE THEY AGREE
  • The incident began as a routine traffic stop.
  • CPD officers discovered contraband (a small amount of marijuana, per lawsuit) in the vehicle.
  • The body searches did not result in the discovery of any illegal substances.
• WHERE THEY DIFFER
  • Reason For Stop
    • The lawsuit alleges the plaintiffs were pulled over because the officer could not see if they were wearing their seatbelts, which they said they were.
    • Ward does not give a reason for the traffic stop.
  • Vehicle Search
    • The lawsuit alleges that CPD officers conducted an illegal search of the plaintiff’s vehicle.
    • Ward alleges that CPD officers received consent from the driver, Upton (per lawsuit), to search the vehicle.
  • Body Search
    • The lawsuit alleges the plaintiffs never consented to a body search.
    • Ward alleges that all four occupants of the vehicle consented to a body search.
  • Officer Demeanor
    • The lawsuit alleges that Ward approached the plaintiffs in an “intimidating and threatening manner.”
    • Ward alleges that she “politely introduced” herself.
  • Privacy
    • The lawsuit alleges the body search occurred “in plain view of the public” and that Ward “pulled Plaintiff Upton’s pants aside to where her vagin* was exposed to public view” while a “group of construction workers were using a nearby ATM and witnessed the entire incident.”
    • Ward alleges that the body search occurred in a “private location.”
    • In a revised statement sent to WDAM on August 27, Ward specified that the search location was “on the left side of a patrol unit, between the driver and passenger side doors.” She said they were “facing away from everyone and all traffic” and were “completely out of sight from the male officers at the scene and all civilians that may have been passing by.” Ward also specifically stated that Upton’s “vagin* was in fact never exposed.”
  • Claims of Assault
    • The lawsuit alleges Ward used excessive force on the plaintiffs by “placing her fingers along and forcing her fingers inside (the plaintiffs’) vagin*(s) multiple times.”
    • Ward alleges that she performed a “palm down search of the undergarment, which is the standard technique used by law enforcement to minimize these types of accusations.”
  • Latex Gloves
    • The lawsuit alleges Ward failed to change her latex gloves between the searches on Upton and Beach.
    • Ward alleges she followed procedure and changed her gloves between searches.

According to Ward’s statement, the Mayor of Columbia and the Columbia Board of Alderman have previously investigated and reviewed the incident.

“I was told that I was in compliance with the law and was cleared of wrongdoing,” she writes. “Anyone who assumes that I acted outside of professionalism is misinformed, and in some recent posts, it seems malicious. I am an officer of integrity, and I have served my community well.”

See Ward’s complete, unedited statement below:

Ward also says there is camera footage available to corroborate her statement. That footage has not been made public at this time.

The lawsuit also names former CPD Police Chief Michael Kelly, former CPD Officer Jamie Moulds, former CPD Lt. Chris Bush, former CPD Crime Suppression Commander Lance Poirer, current CPD Officer Austin Riels and the City of Columbia. It also named Seth Blackmon as a defendant. However, Blackmon has not worked for CPD since leaving for the Hattiesburg Police Department in 2017.

On Monday, August 26, Upton and Beach filed a notice of voluntary dismissal to remove Blackmon as a defendant in the suit.

The lawsuit further alleges that the circ*mstances leading to rights violations are part of a larger problem in the Columbia Police Department itself.

The suit reads: “In fact, as previously stated herein, it was only seconds after Plaintiff (Upton) made a comment regarding ‘bad cops’ on the Columbia Police force that one of the participating Defendants requested a female officer (Officer Delta) to the scene to perform the illegal and unconstitutional roadside body-cavity search of the Plaintiffs.”

Additionally, the suit claims the City of Columbia is aware of these issues and has not held the department accountable.

“The City of Columbia had ample opportunity to take action to remedy the pervasive culture of police misconduct but took no meaningful steps to address the situation,” reads the lawsuit. “Had the City of Columbia taken any meaningful action, perhaps the damages and injuries complained of herein could have been prevented.”

Upton and Beach’s lawsuit follows a shakeup at the Columbia Police Department, which saw former Police Chief Kelly and five other officers resign over the week of August 16. Those resignations have not been linked to the incident described in the lawsuit at this time.

You can read the lawsuit in its entirety below:

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